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Juncker demands 'respect' for his 'sciatica'

European Commission head Jean-Claude Juncker demanded "respect" from media in Brussels Wednesday after being asked whether he had consumed alcohol at a recent Nato summit. "I had sciatica last Wednesday and I had cramps in my legs [at the summit]," he said. He spoke after video footage showed him staggering, chuckling, and being held up by colleagues at the event. Juncker has been dogged by accusations of drunkenness before.

This is a political crisis unprecedented in Austria since the war: the resignation of the vice-chancellor, firing of the interior minister, the mass resignation of FPO ministers, a snap election, and a no-confidence vote in the Austrian parliament on Monday.

Feature

A planned high-speed railway connection through the Alps between Italy and France has been highly controversial for decades and is pitting governing Italian coalition parties against each other. But the European Commission insists it must go ahead.